Friday, July 16, 2010

I’m getting sick and tired of politicians, the media and other leaders having to tip toe around calling the teabaggers,* bigots. To quote John Wayne this is getting “rigoddamndiculous.”

Today during an interview with Tamron Hall on MSNBC, Mark Williams, who is a spokesperson for a teabagger group, defended an offensive letter he posted on the internet yesterday. Even though it was meant to be satirical, his use of the word “colored” just crossed so many lines and reinforces the meme that his group is in fact racist.

He defended the use of the word by pointing to the fact the actual name of the NAACP, is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In doing so he shows his absolute ignorance of this nation’s history as well as the circumstances that lead to the NAACP’s creation. The word is dated and in most cases it is meant to be offensive to African Americans, however when it comes to the NAACP it is accepted and to many of us it serves as a reminder of how far this nation has come since the organization’s founding.

Williams used the word to attempt to attack the credibility of NAACP president Ben Jealous, fortunately Hall was not having it, push backed on him wanting to call out the NAACP for its use of the word “colored” and told him “we are not even going to go there.”

He also went on to accuse the NAACP and other groups of being agent provocateurs, responsible for any racism on display at there events.

Teabaggers and others on the right who use race, ethnic background, religion and/or sexual orientation to divide us, have gotten away with this crap for too long and it needs to stop.

Since the Reagan administration whenever anyone calls out bigotry, the accused bigots push back and accuse those calling them out on their bigotry as being bigots. Unfortunately in this day and age of talk radio, the Internet and cable news networks the bigots have managed to change the conversation and force folks to tread carefully when calling them out.

You think I’m imagining this? Think about what happens and the reaction whenever our nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama addresses the issue of race.

Its a sad state of affairs.

EDITORS' NOTE: Join the Color of Change in demanding that the teabaggers choose to denounce Williams or admit they're a haven for bigots.

*I refuse to defame a special moment in American history but comparing this ignorant band of blithering idiots to the true patriots who took part in the Boston Tea Party.